Jim Morrison: Nothing ‘huge’ about this present

The tax overhaul presently being negotiated in Congress must be properly evaluated. Trump has touted the doubling of the standard deduction as a “huge, beautiful Christmas present.”

The vast majority of tax filers already use the “short form” to file their income taxes, and more would do so with this increase. They are attempting to make us believe is that due to the doubling of the standard deduction, from $6,000 to $12,000 for single filers and from $12,000 to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly, many more individuals will be able to file their taxes on a post card, and that will be a huge tax reduction for all people earning less than $75,000 a year. What is quietly being ignored is that the personal exemption is to be eliminated.

That exemption — $4,000 per individuals in your household — would increase your taxable income, offsetting the additional huge tax break. I file my taxes using the short form, married filing jointly, with one dependent. The exemption reduced my taxable income by $12,000. That means this huge increase in the standard deduction, in my case, would be no change in my taxes from last year. It also means that a family filing jointly with no dependents would see a reduction in their taxable income. A family with more than three dependents would now have a $4,000 increase in taxable income for each dependent. Increasing the standard deduction, and eliminating the personal exemptions would make this anything but a huge tax overhaul.

Do not spend your Trump Christmas present, before evaluating how the elimination of the personal exemption will affect your taxes.